Longing
by KunoichiRena
Summary: Birthday's aren't as happy as people are led to believe but a certain occasion shows Naruto what he is fighting for. Naruto one-shot for his birthday today.


AN: It's only September 8, and I've already such a great idea for Naruto's birthday fic

AN: It's only September 8, and I've already such a great idea for Naruto's birthday fic. In round 2 between me n' Tai-chan, I'm Kakashi and she's Gai. It turned out that the last round ended in a tie (1-1) because I submitted the story on time but she submitted a day later but ended up with more reviews. So here's the one-shot that I will take a long time on for the fun of it!

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Longing

October 10th is the day that the nine tailed fox, Kyuubi, had attacked the village of Konohagakure-no-Saito. October 10th was the day Uzumaki Naruto was born. October 10th was the day that fox and boy had a sealed fate together. Though every year on the same day, the boy always had a need to hide from the world—from his sin, to somewhere where no one would judge him based upon their insights. Life was cruel and unfair to the boy. First few hours of his life was spoilt because of the bijuu, first few years spoilt because of the villagers, first few years as a shinobi spoilt because of him teammate, Sasuke, running out on them for power, and now rendered the blonde haired boy to training ridiculous hours to try and keep a promise to his fist love. Who, unfortunately, never returned his affection. Throughout all his quandaries, he was vigilante, hardworking, and just someone who grew onto you faster than milk rotting. However, October 10th was the only day where he allowed himself to be himself. A sad, frightened boy who wanted to run away from the holiday that almost officially gave the villagers

right to hate the beast within Naruto—Naruto himself included in the parcel.

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"Mission?" Naruto nodded as he approached Tsunade's desk, clutching onto the edges with a pleading face. The Hokage sighed heavily before looking at him, pointing her index finger straight into his face. "Under such circumstances, I wouldn't allow it."

"But…?" Naruto continued, almost too eager to hear the rest. "But considering _your_ circumstances, this once, I will allow you this one favor…any word out that I did this and you _will_ experience something very unpleasant." Naruto laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head and waving his hand. "Come on, have more faith in me!"

"It's just that, I don't." The blonde haired boy's face fell as he backed away from her desk, ready to be informed on a more Hokage-to-shinobi level. "Something easy, right?"

"Well, not _too_ easy that I can fall asleep and do it blindfolded, but just something for a few days…you know…" He held both hands out on the side of him, shrugging. "Right…well, I guess I can send you on a patrol around the northern borders…nothing really going on there, but it's still a little noisy near large events like these. It's mostly travelers wanting to get in to celebrate with family, so you'll just have to check their passport. If I were you, I'd start right away. It's about a good few hours to get there."

"Yeah, yeah…who's the client?"

"I am. I'd normally give this out to other shinobi, but since you insisted, I'm giving it to you." A large grin spread across the boy's face as he was about to set off, only to be stopped. "If you run into trouble along the way, send for help immediately. Use a flare to signal the other border patrollers. Here's your map of your area and a few flares just in case. Also, you will be situated there for only 2 days and then you will be relieved of your duties."

"Alright, alright! I'm going now!" He took off in a sprint after grabbing hold of the items, grinning the entire way. Yeah, it was going to be lonely, but at least he was going to be completely alone, not having the feeling while being surrounded by people. Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai weren't going to look for him, so it didn't matter. Even if they did, all they had to do was ask Tsunade about his whereabouts and that would be the end of that. No questions asked.

He arrived at his house and began packing enough supplies for two days, humming happily to himself, obviously proud of his achievements. Tsunade was a tough nut to crack, alright, but when it concerned something or someone dear to her, she was like putty to a child. Finishing up to pack, he locked the door and pocketed the key, looking around at the festival decorators beginning to hang up streamers and raise monuments in honor of the Yondaime. The jinchuuriki scoffed and jumped from roof-to-roof to his destination, hearing musicians beginning to tune their instruments for the nighttime event. Everything happening around him both angered and saddened him, but also gave him courage to move on in life. Without pain, there would be no character to anyone. The gates closed behind him as the evening was becoming livelier by the second.

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Marking a tree with his kunai, Naruto couldn't help but sigh heavily in boredom. "Something happen already!" He shouted in the air, pocketing his kunai. He didn't care how loud he was. Hell, no one heard him anyways, so what was the difference? He sighed and leaned against a tree, looking up at the full moon in the sky. _'Everyone's celebrating no…Kakashi is off reading or battling with Gai as usual…Sakura is most likely with Shizune trying to keep Tsunade away from alcohol…Sai is…well, Sai…no one ever knows what he does.'_ Naruto thought to himself, frowning deeply as he thought. There was a movement in the distant moon rays, making him take a battle stance. "Who's there…?" There was chuckling as more shadows were being formed. A whizzing sound was headed his way, forcing him to take refuge in the trees to see that it was a swarm of kunais and shruikens that had embedded itself in the nearby trees. He dropped to the ground, inspecting the area warily. "Show yourself!" His yell echoed throughout the forest, a cold sweat creeping up on his brow. Before he knew it, there were three men emerging from the shadows itself, all holding a sword in their hands. Naruto gnashed his teeth, gripping onto his kunai tightly. "I'm guessing you're not here for the party, are you?" They each threw out more projectiles; the blonde-haired boy deflected each one. The enemies were nothing but human-shaped masses that had no features or anything…they were just black as if they were shadows. _'Shadows?' _A thought came to Naruto's head, he getting mad. "Shikamaru, if that's you, it's not funny!" There was a deep, throaty chuckle, forcing Naruto back. "Okay…not Shikamaru..." His face was contorted in surprise as they began to attack him at once, forcing him to use hand-to-hand combat. This was not his night. This was what he wanted to get away from! He couldn't even use his emergency flare with his hands tied up with three enemies. He wanted something to happen, but he didn't expect to be outnumbered by three adversaries. Quickly, he punched one in the face, forcing it to merge into the shadows to recuperate. Using his kunai, he slashed open the next one, it falling to the ground as if it were made of paper and slinking away into the shadows. "Bushins…?" Something hit his neck; he pulled it out quickly and discarded it without taking a look, or rather, not having the time to look, at what it was. The last shadow attacked him, boxing his right ear. Naruto took the opportunity to pierce through its chest, it disintegrating right on his hand and falling to the ground like sand. Naruto sighed a breath of relief for now, but quickly put his guard back up, remembering that they were only bushins. His eyes caught a glimpse of a white piece of fabric fluttering through the treetops, he throwing a kunai in the general direction and hoping of something good to happen. A few leaves fell to the ground behind him instead of where he threw the kunai, making the boy jump backwards and then up into the tree, finding what was the source of the problem. A single man clad in a black shirt, black baggy pants, white flowing sash, and a blue ceremonial Noh mask on his face stared into his face, sword ready at hand. He laughed now, in a high pitched voice, and jabbed his sword forwards at Naruto in an amazing swiftness, throwing him off guard momentarily, the jab grazing his left side, he letting out a small 'urk' before grabbing it with his two hands, cutting them open but taking hold of the sword nonetheless into his possession. The Noh figure shrugged before bouncing out of the trees, taking out a blow dart and laughing devilishly, lifting his mask a bit as so he could blow through it, Naruto moving out of the line of fire as best as he could. "Arg! You're so damn slippery!" He yelled towards him, clenching his fist in front of him. With his two hands, he made a seal, "kage bushin no jutsu!" Three clones emerged, fanning out around the enemy to try and ambush him. The Noh man stood erect in the stereotypical pose with the tiger seal, shadow clones of his own were created, one at each of his side. In an instant, they clashed, leaving Naruto with an extra clone of his own to fend of the real threat. However, his body froze up, the Noh man approached Naruto and flicked his forehead, sending the boy falling backwards. "Not your day, is it, kid? Mission complete. You'll die within a few hours from the poison." He laughed again in a high pitched voice, retrieving several darts, holding them up. "The more you danced around up in the trees, the more my clones shot you with these. You merely thought they were branches snapping against your skin, didn't you?"

"K-kuso…"

"Don't swear before your final hours. It's not good for you." He unmasked his face, laughing again. Naruto stared for a while, absorbing in the man's facial features. He had sunken in cheeks with thin, high eyebrows and narrow eyes. His entire face resembled that of a rat. This time, it was Naruto's turn to laugh, the Noh man kicking his side angrily. "You dare mock me?"

"I mock you, alright…" Slowly, Naruto lost consciousness, trying to fight it long enough for the man to leave and he trying to set off a flare, but it was hopeless. The last thing he saw on the man's head was that of utter betrayal—a leaf headband. His eyes widened with shock before his body gave in to the toxins. He didn't want to die.

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"Come on, Sasuke, we're too close to the Konoha border…! I don't like it! We're supposed to be looking for-"

"Karin…"

"Yes, Sasuke?"

"Shut up." Suigetsu finished off for the Uchiha, Karin stopping momentarily to try and hit her so-called comrade, only for him to laugh in her face and evade her attack. "Sasuke, as much as you are the leader, you are at risk now of being taken back by your own village… you're being irrational and you put everyone on the team at risk." Juugo voiced his concern, not wanting Sasuke to become upset. Don't get him wrong, he believed that Sasuke was the only one that could prevent him from killing anyone that he wanted to aside from Kimimaro, and he was dead, so there was nothing more. If Sasuke were gone, he'd go back onto a rampage and didn't want that to happen. Sasuke stopped suddenly, staring wide-eyed at the view before him. A blonde and orange mass lay on the ground out cold, the moon's rays beating down on his emotionless face. "Sasuke…?" Karin approached him, looking forwards and placing her hands on her hips. "Look at this…" She went over to the fallen boy and tapped him with her foot, earning a groan. "He's still alive. We should get out of here before he comes to." Sasuke didn't reply, merely walk forwards and squat next to him, inspecting the blonde. He moved aside his arm, finding his jacket and part of the sleeve soaked in blood, frowning slightly. "We camp here tonight. If anything, he was the patrolman around here."

"Then we should go right away!" Karin suggested, Sasuke took his arm and slung it around his neck, beginning to walk further away from the border. "Sasuke…?" Suigetsu looked at him with a questioning face. "What's that guy to you?" Still no reply was earned from the stoic Uchiha. "Geez, sometimes…" The water lover trailed off, kicking a tree. "You don't want to be near the border, so we'll help this guy further from the border." Karin automatically switched onto obsessive mode, placing both hands on her cheeks, "Sasuke, you're so sweet!" He looked at her from the corner of his eye but didn't react. What was the point? She wouldn't change whatsoever. He gently lay the boy on the ground when he thought they were far enough, inspecting his wounds. "Karin, bandage him up and see what you can do to help him."

"Right away, Sasuke!" She ran over to him, kneeling next to him and beginning to open up his vest and move his shirt away to clean up the bloodied mess and seeing that all his veins were visible. She opened his eyelids, seeing his eyes fully dilated. "He's been poisoned…I could help him if he woke up, but not before."

"Do the best you can in that case." She sighed lightly, nodding and getting to work. Sasuke perched himself in a tree, looking up at the moon. Over yonder, he could see the distant faces of the Hokages. Slowly, he tore his gaze away, watching as Suigetsu prepared camp and Juugo got a fire going for their meal. "Karin, what day are we?" Sasuke questioned out of the blue, earning another quizzical look from his comrade. "We're…uh…October 9th…" She replied, returning to her work without expecting an answer back from Sasuke, though she could feel his eyes boring a hole into her back as he stared. Not at her, but at the patient that she was working on.

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Naruto's eyes slowly opened up, blurry with sweat dripping inside it, a girl looming over him. "Sasuke, are you sure he's going to make it? We're wasting time here with him."

"Sas…uke…?" Naruto spoke slowly, trying to look down at the scene but found himself incapable of doing so. Sasuke was walking past him to eat supper, Suigetsu and Juugo already had started. Momentarily, he stopped and looked into the suffering face of his ex-teammate before continuing to take a bowl being held out to him by Juugo. Naruto tried to move, Karin holding onto him to stay put but he managed to get on his side, pushing himself up off the ground for a few seconds before his strength drained from him and he fell back down, staring at Sasuke as he panted heavily. "Here, bite my arm, your energy will return to you." She held it to his mouth, but Naruto closed his eyes and twisted his head away from her, now testing her patience. "Listen, I'm helping you because Sasuke said so! If you're ungrateful and won't listen to me, I swear I won't help you anymore!"

"Karin…" Naruto's heart skipped a beat as he heard Sasuke speak. He was real…! It wasn't an illusion! He slowly extended a hand out, gripping a fistful of grass and trying to haul himself forwards on his stomach, face contorted in pain with every inch he moved. "If you don't stop this foolishness now, the poison will spread even faster and you'll die, you moron. If you just bit into my arm and end your stupidity, you'd be healed by now." She shrugged her shoulders before returning to her food. Naruto dragged himself a little bit further before falling once again, though this time in front of Juugo. He laughed cynically and poked him a few times with his chopsticks, earning a hard stare by Sasuke before remembering himself and getting back in line. Naruto didn't care how much of a pathetic sight he looked like; he needed to know that Sasuke was indeed real. Sure, he felt the pain and the humiliation by his 'followers,' but he needed to make sure with his five senses that he was there. "It's midnight now…we should have eaten earlier…" Suigetsu complained, falling onto his back. October 10th… Naruto heaved a heavy sigh before he buried his face in the crook of his elbow, closing his eyes. _'Happy birthday me…stupid villagers…always force me to run away from the village a day in advance so they make sure I'm not there…it's always the same…' _He thought to himself, feeling someone touch his forehead. "Sasuke, he's not getting any better…he needs a hospital or something if he doesn't want my help." The stoic boy stood up and walked towards Naruto, opening his weapon pouch and finding the flares. "Standard issue is for him to signal these off if he's in trouble."

"You let us take care of him knowing that!?" Suigetsu shouted, bolting upwards. "They're not here, are they? That means he never got the chance to set it off."

"Great! Then just use it and we can be on our merry way! Simple as that." Karin said, about to pull the string when Sasuke stopped her. "Do you know how many boarder patrolmen are just walking around here?" Karin closed her eyes and tried sensing them, suddenly paling. "Why…? There's close to a hundred…"

"Exactly. Set one of those off and they'll all come rushing here like bees to honey." Sasuke explained, Naruto felt him scrounge some more in his pockets, finding nothing more of interest or value. "Let's get some sleep now. Suigetsu, take the first watch. Juugo will get the next watch." They nodded, Sasuke dousing the fire out and jumped into a tree, Karin fixing Naruto up a little more comfortably and Juugo falling asleep where he was. Naruto stared at the charcoal that was still burning hot. With a hand, he slowly reached for a flare, hiding it under his body. "What's your name, kid?" Suigetsu questioned Naruto, sweat falling onto the ground as he began to speak, "Naruto…Uzumaki…Naruto…" He replied, his mind shutting down once again.

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As soon as Naruto deemed it safe enough, being early morning, he took out the flare and looked around, seeing everyone asleep. _'So much for night watch…' _He mused, pulling the string on the flare as it flew from his hands and blackening them, soaring in the sky and setting off. Everyone at the campsite woke with a start, all on guard. "Juugo! You're supposed to be on watch! That includes watching him!" Sasuke shouted in standing position. "We have to go now!"

"You little twerp…!" Karin approached Naruto, kicking his head. In an instant, he grabbed her leg and bit her ankle, earning a harsh cry from her as she jerked her leg away, retreating off with Sasuke. Naruto felt rejuvenated somewhat, but help still arrived quickly. His eyes closed partially as dozens of ninjas came to his aid, helping him up off the ground and muttering nonsense incoherent to him at the moment. The night before his birthday was spent with his considered brother…well actually the day if you wanted to make it into literal terms, and there was still the day left. Before he knew it, he was at the Konoha gates, being ushered towards the hospital upon the back of a shinobi. He blinked a few times as he registered who it was—Hatake Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei…?" There was no reply from his sensei as he burst through the doors of the hospital, Naruto frowning. Poison was what got him…he was so close to Sasuke yet so far…again, he had failed retrieving Sasuke when he was just within his grasp. With that, he finally slumped into a state of darkness out of sheer exhaustion.

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Two blue orbs opened to find himself in the white room of the hospital, Tsunade and Sakura hovering over him as they extracted the poison. "What happened?" Tsunade questioned quickly, Naruto groaning as he held his forehead. "There was this guy…dressed up in Noh costume and I basically ended up like this…" Naruto explained, remembering Sasuke. He looked up at Sakura's concentrating face and took her hand in his, eyebrows furrowed together with watery eyes. She looked over at him and smiled. "Nothing to be upset about." She assured him, he wondering if he should tell his comrade about their other teammate. "Sakura, can you finish up? I have to go make my speech in fifteen minutes…"

"Alright." She nodded, watching Tsunade leave the room for a few minutes before continuing on with her work. "Maa…you were only out there for a few hours and this is how you come back…!"

"Sakura…I…" He gripped more tightly onto her wrist; she looked into his eyes with worry. "Sasuke…I couldn't get him back…I saw him…but couldn't get him back…I'm sorry…"

"What are you saying…? Not recently…that wasn't recent…that happened…" Naruto shook his head as tears fell from his eyes, a knot forming in his throat. "It was last night…he helped me last night at his camp…and I tried to stop him, Sakura, I tried…" Sakura was at a loss for words as she shook her head in disbelief, her face screwed up in sadness. Tears sprang to her eyes as she tried extracting more poison from Naruto but tears began to fall, her body racking with sobs. Her knees buckled together as she collapsed on the ground, burying her face in the bed sheets and bawling noisily. Naruto stared up at the ceiling and placed a hand on her head, biting his lip from crying as loudly as she was. "He's safe though…with people…that he trusts…" He tried to reassure her but hurt himself in the process. Where those people more trustworthy than his own teammates? Where they any better than him? "With people…" Naruto couldn't continue. The knot in his throat made it hard to speak as he forced himself to sit up, Sakura not protesting at all. He looked up at the ceiling, tears streaming down his face and travelling down his throat. Slowly, Sakura's cries died down, finding the strength to stand up. "But…you're still alive…and safe at home…so…if he's with people he can trust…it's alright for now…"

"Yeah…" Naruto agreed, just wanting her to be happy with whatever she wanted to believe was right. She wiped her eyes and smiled as best as she could, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small gift wrapped parcel for him. "H-happy birthday." She hiccuped, he smiling faintly. "You remembered, huh…?"

"How could I forget on a day like this?" She replied, he looking down. How could she give him something when he gave her news like that? She took his hand and pressed it in his palm, he taking it and opening it up hesitantly. Inside were Sakura's homemade soldier pills, he smiling and thanking her for them. His birthday wasn't really a happy one that year, but it reminded him of one thing that he was sure of—they needed Sasuke back. Naruto went over to his pouch and opened it up; checking to make sure Sasuke hadn't taken anything else away. He stopped when he came across a small piece of paper, pulling it out. Opening it, he chuckled sadly and handed it over to Sakura, she clutching the piece of paper and holding it close to her. There was a single word written on it in Sasuke's handwriting:

'Soon.'

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AN: Happy birthday, Naruto-kun! I thought I'd write something other than a 'happy' birthday so much as a birthday where he remembers what he has to do. –smiles- I'm actually quite pleased with myself because everyone writes one where he's always happy on his birthday, and I know that all birthdays aren't happy at all. So, this was one of the latter experiences.


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